It is desirable to incorporate circuit interrupters in power distribution systems, which circuit interrupters may in some cases be automatically operated in response to abnormal load or line conditions, and in other cases may be manually operated to permit energization and deenergization of a portion of the power system to accommodate maintenance work and other operating requirements. It has been found advantageous in certain applications to utilize vacuum interrupters as the circuit interrupters. Some of the advantages of using vacuum interrupters are their fast, low energy arc interruption with long contact life, low mechanical stress and a high degree of operating safety. A vacuum interrupter is constructed with a pair of contacts sealed in a vacuum enclosure with a movable contact having an operating member extending through a vacuum seal in the enclosure. A spring loaded toggle mechanism is preferably coupled to the operating member for rapidly and positively opening and closing the contacts.
One such operating mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,790, issued Nov. 7, 1978 to Kumbera and Bordak and assigned to assignee of the present invention. One commercially available operating mechanism is provided with two separate operating levers, one of which controls the trip or open function and the other of which controls the close function of the circuit interrupter. In this particular mechanism it is necessary to manually reset the lever which trips the mechanism after the contacts have been tripped or opened. Typically, a separate manually operated crank handle is provided for charging a stored energy operator. That crank must be rotated a relatively large number of times (i.e., 250 to 350 revolutions), and is not conveniently operated at a remote distance from the mechanism.
It would be desireable to have a switchgear operating mechanism in which the circuit breaker contacts can be both closed and opened by the displacement of a single operating handle, rather than two or more separate handles. It would also be desirable to provide a detent arrangement which will return or maintain the single operating handle in predetermined locations. More importantly, it would be highly desirable to provide a mechanism which, from a remote location using reciprocating motion, could charge an energy storage mechanism for providing energy to close and open the circuit breaker contacts. This is all the more desirable once it is understood that switchgear, particularly high voltage switchgear, is often housed in underground storage vaults or in spaces which are difficult to gain access. From a safety point-of-view, it would be very desirable to operate such mechanism at a safe distance and without having to use complicated or specialized equipment.